Signal device for a boat trailer

ABSTRACT

A signal device for a boat trailer having a housing attached to the axle of a boat trailer by an elastic member and a float, battery assembly and horn assembly mounted in the housing with the float closing an energizing circuit from the battery assembly to the horn assembly when the wheels on the axle reach a certain point in a body of water during launching of a boat carried by the trailer to alert the operator of the towing vehicle and prevent water from coming into contact with the wheel bearings.

, 0e -15-71 KR 395859582 [72] Inventor Robert A. Dove [56] ReferencesCited 960 Tripp Drive, West Palm Beach, Fla. UNITED STATES PATENTS 334802,794,973 6/1957 Lowther, Jr. 340/244 5 fig;- 32% 799,410 9/1905 Smith340/244 l I Patented June 1s 1,324,522 12/ 919 Sa tzman 340/244 PrimaryExaminerAlvin H. Waring Attorneys-Clarence A. OBrien and Harvey B.Jacobson [54] SIGNAL DEVICE FOR A BOAT TRAILER 9 chums 5 Davina FigsABSTRACT: A signal device for a boat trailer having a hous- [52] [1.8.CI 340/52, ing attached to the axle of a boat trailer by an elasticmember 340/59, 340/244, 200/84, 200/152, 1 16/110, and a float, batteryassembly and horn assembly mounted in 73/290 the housing with the floatclosing an energizing circuit from [5 1] Int. Cl B60q 1/00 the batteryassembly to the horn assembly when the wheels on [50] Field of Search340/52, 59, the axle reach a certain point in a body of water during 70,244, 235, 258, 282; ZOO/61.04, 52, 61.44, 84, 152; 116/109, 110,118,73/290, 301, 305, 307309, 313

launching of a boat carried by the trailer to alert the operator of thetowing vehicle and prevent water from coming into contact with the wheelbearings.

SIGNAL DEVICE FOR A BOAT TRAILER A primary object of the presentinvention is to provide signal means in association with a boat trailer,the signal means being operative to signal to the operator of the towingvehicle when to stop the vehicle in order to prevent water from enteringthe bearings of the trailer wheels and causing corrosion to suchbearings as the trailer wheels are moved into a body of water during thelaunching of a boat carried by the trailer.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide meansfor semipermanently installing a signal device on a boat traileradjacent to the wheels and to form the device in such a way that thesignal components within a housing, that is semipermanently installed onthe trailer, can be removed and replaced without removing the housingfrom its attachment to the trailer.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide anelastic mounting arrangement for mounting a signal device on the axle ofa boat trailer so that the signal device is generally perpendicular tothe axle and is permitted to move when contacting foreign objects,thereby decreasing possibility of damage, the elasticity of the mountingreturning the device to its initial preset position and means beingprovided for eliminating movement of the entire assembly duringtransportation of the trailer to the boat launching site.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide asimple, effective and compact signal device for a boat trailer and toprovide a reliable and simple elastic mounting arrangement for mountingthe device on the axle of the boat trailer.

These together with other objects and advantages which will becomesubsequently apparent reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, whereinlike numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

' FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of the signal device showing thesame mounted on the axle of a boat trailer, which is fragmentarily shownin relation to the position that the trailer and supporting wheelsassume during the launching of a carried boat in a body of water;

FIG. 2 is a longitudinal vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale ofthe signal device and showing in greater detail the mounting arrangementthereof;

FIG. 3 is a bottom plan view of the snap-on cap which closes off theupper end of the housing for the signal device;

FIG. 4 is a transverse, horizontal sectional view, taken substantiallyon line 4-4 of FIG. 2, and,

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective, somewhat diagrammatic view, showingthe attaching of the signal device to the axle by means of an elastic,endless cord.

Referring now more particularly to the accompanying drawings, andinitially to FIG. 1, the reference numeral generally designates aconventional boat trailer which is drafted by a towing vehicle (notshown) and which is supported by ground-engaging wheels 12 carried by anaxle 14 and having conventional bearings. In launching a boat which iscarried by the trailer 10, the operator of the towing vehicle backs thetrailer into a body of water, as shown in FIG. 1. In present practice,the operator of the towing vehicle requires the services of anassistant, whose duty is to signal to the operator when to stop thetowing vehicle in order to prevent water from coming in contact with thebearings of the trailer wheels 12 and causing corrosion to suchbearings.

It is the primary aim and purpose of the present invention to provide asignal means or device 16, which takes the place of an assistant and ismore reliable than an assistant, who must depend upon his visualobservation of the movement of the wheels 12 into the body of water, thesignal means or device being automatic in operation to signal to theoperator of the towing vehicle when the trailer wheels 12 have beensubmerged to a predetennined level beyond which the wheels should notmove into the body of water. By means of the automatic signal device 16,the operator of the towing vehicle knows for certain when the trailer isin the proper launching position without the need of an observer.

The signal device 16, as shown more particularly in FIGS. 2 through 4,includes a tubular housing 18, which is formed from high impactpolystyrene or any high impact commercial plastic and is composed of twosections 20 and 22. The housing or case 18 is suitable for mounting in aposition generally perpendicular to the trailer axle 14 or adjacentcomponents which are stationary in relation to the axle 14. Preferably,the housing or case 18 is attached to the axle 14. The housing or case18 is attached to the axle so that it is disposed generallyperpendicular to the axle and the trailer frame and, thus, the section20 may be termed the lower section, while the section 22 may be referredto as the upper section.

The lower section 20 has an imperforate sidewall and is provided with anend wall 24 which fonns the bottom wall for the housing or case 18, thebottom wall 24 being provided with a series of apertures 26 for theadmission of water into the lower end section 20 of the housing or case.A cylindrical float 28 is disposed within the lower end section 20 andis adapted to be moved upwardly in the housing or case 18 by virtue ofthe water entering through the openings or apertures 26 in the bottomwall 24 when the casing or housing is submerged in the water, as shownin FIG. 1. The upper end portion 30 of the sidewall 31 of the lower endsection 20 of the housing or case 18 is internally threaded, as at 32,to receive the coaxially reduced exteriorly threaded lower end portion34 of the upper end section 22. The upper end section 22 has acylindrical sidewall 36, which complements the sidewall 31 of the lowerend section and is formed with a circumferential shoulder 38 thatreceives the distal end of the upper end portion 30 of the sidewall 31of the lower end section 20.

The upper end section 22 is formed with a bottom wall 40, whichconstitutes a transverse partition wall in the housing or case 18 anddivides the interior thereof into two compartments, the lowercompartment 42 being within the lower end section and within which thefloat 28 is movably disposed. The upper compartment 44 supports amounting means 46 for a conventional dry cell battery 48 and houses ahorn 50, which is energized by the battery 48 under the rising action ofthe float 28 after the housing or case has been submerged to a certainpoint in the body of water, as will be described.

The sidewall 36 of the upper section 22 terminates at its upper end in abell-shaped end portion 52, which has an internal flat annular shoulder54 disposed normal to the longitudinal axis of the overall housing orcase 18 and which has an external shoulder 56.

The battery 48 is removably clamped within the supporting clip 46, whichis generally of channel-shaped construction, having a web portion 58 andopposing lateral, parallel legs 60 and 62. The clip is made from aresilient material and the web portion is bent outwardly at its outerends or at the juncture points with the leg portions to engage theinterior of the sidewall 36 of the upper section 22. The upper leg 62 ofthe battery supporting clip terminates at its outer end in a U- shapedclamping portion 64 and a bracket 66 upstands from one side thereof soas to support the bottom of the housing 68 for the horn 50. The housing68 is formed with an upper or outer bell-shaped end 70 which seats onthe shoulder 54 so that the horn and battery are suspended from theshoulder 54.

A cap 72, which is formed from high impact plastic material, the same asthe housing or case 18, is provided and the cover portion 74 thereof isslightly concavo-convex, with ribs 76 extending downwardly and radiallyinwardly and being configured to bear on the bell-shaped end of the hornhousing so as to hold the horn housing down.

The cap 72 has depending clamping fingers 80 disposed incircumferentially spaced fashion, as shown in FIG. 3, to providecircumferentially spaced-apart spaces 82, which are alignable withnotches or openings 84 formed radially through the end edge of endportion 52 to permit sound to pass outwardly from the born. The cap 72may be rotated to allow the operator to vary the volume of soundemitted.

The float 28 is provided at its upper end with a conductive disc 85,which is adapted to cooperate with contacts 86 and 88 in the form ofheads of pins 90, the contacts 86 and 88 being disposed on the undersideof the partition wall 40 with the pins extending through the partitionwall and having conductors 92 and 94 fixed thereon. The conductor 94 isattached to a contact 96 on the arm 60 which engages one end of thebattery while the conductor wire 92 is attached to the horn. Theenergizing circuit for the horn, which includes the conductors 92 and94, is completed from the battery to the horn when the conductive disc85 bridges the two contacts 86 and 88, under the upward floating impetusgiven it by the water entering the apertures 26 as the housing or case18 is submerged in the body of water, as shown in FIG. I.

The partition wall 40 is formed with a small offcenter opening 98 whichserves as a drainhole for the compartment 44 and the sidewall 31 of thelower section 20 is provided just below the transverse partition wall 40with radial openings 100 which serve as air bleedoff holes for easyoperation of the float 28.

As aforestated, the housing or case 18 can be attached to any part ofthe trailer structure but preferably it is attached to the axle l4 andthe case 18 is mounted to the axle by an endless piece of elastic cord108, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 5. The elastic cord is looped around theaxle so that it has two rearwardly projecting loops, an upper loop 110and a lower loop 112. The sidewall 46 of the upper section 22 is formedwith a series of longitudinally spaced annular bosses or ribs 114, whichare molded integral with the upper section and which are adapted to bearagainst the axle, as shown in FIG. 2, with the closed ends of the loops110 and 112 encircling the outer surface of the sidewall 46 and beingdisposed in vertically spaced relation and being preferably interposedbetween adjoining spaced ribs, as shown in FIG. 2. The ribs 114eliminate movement of the entire assembly during transportation of thetrailer to the launching site. The elastic mounting cord 108 permits thecasing to move in the event it contacts a foreign object with theelasticity of the attaching cord tending to return the housing or caseto its normal position, generally perpendicular to the axle, as shown inFIGS. 1 and 2.

The installation is of a semipermanent nature since once the housing orcase is attached by the elastic loops to the axle, it is not removed.Disassembly for battery replacement or other maintenance can beperformed without removing the housing or case from the axle. To replacethe battery 48, the snap-on cap 72 is removed, thereby allowing the hornassembly 50 and battery assembly 48 to be extracted vertically throughthe upper open end of the casing. To obtain access to the contacts onthe float 28, the bottom section of the housing or case can be unscrewedfrom the upper section 22, which is mounted to the axle 14.

In use, the float 28 will seat on the bottom wall 24 but as the traileris moved into a body of water, as shown in FIG. 1, for launching a boatcarried by the trailer, the trailer wheels 12 will be submerged in thewater. When the trailer wheels have been submerged to a predeterminedlevel, as determined before mounting the case or housing 18, the waterwill enter through the openings 26 in the bottom wall and graduallyraise the float 28. Before the water can come into contact with thebearing assemblies of the wheels, the conductive disc 85 on the upperend of the float 28 will bridge the contacts 86 and 88 and establish theenergizing circuit for the horn which will emit a loud, extremelyaudible sound, this sound passing through the openings 84 and the outputportions or openings 82 and being highly audible to the operator of thetowing vehicle so that the operator can realize that the trailer shouldnot be moved any further into the body ofwater.

Accordingly, it is submitted that a compact, inexpensive but reliableand efficient signal device has been provided for association with aboat trailer so as to positively prevent the water from coming incontact with the bearings of the trailer wheels 12 by giving off anaudible signal to the operator of the towing vehicle and alerting theoperator that the trailer wheels 12 should not be moved any further intothe body of water.

What I claim as new is as follows:

1. In combination with a boat trailer adapted to be coupled to a towingvehicle and having an axle supporting ground-engaging wheels providedwith bearings, signal means for indicating to an operator of the towingvehicle when the trailer has been moved into a body of water forlaunching or recovering a boat carried by the trailer before the watercan come into contact with the wheel bearings, and means for mountingthe signal means on the trailer in stationary relation to the wheelbearings, said signal means including a housing, a float in saidhousing, a signalling assembly, battery means for energizing saidsignalling assembly disposed in said housing and contact means in saidhousing adapted to be engaged by the float to complete an energizingcircuit from the battery to the signalling assembly whereby thesignalling assembly is rendered operative, said means for mounting thesignal means retaining the housing so that the float is substantiallyvertically movable and is moved upwardly by action of the water enteringthrough openings in the housing.

2. In combination with a boat trailer adapted to be coupled to a towingvehicle and having an axle supporting ground-engaging wheels providedwith bearings, signal means for indicating to an operator of the towingvehicle when the trailer has been moved into a body of water forlaunching or recovering a boat carried by the trailer before the watercan come into contact with the wheel bearings, and means for mountingthe signal means on the trailer in stationary relation to the wheelbearings, said signal means including a housing and said mounting meansincluding an endless elastic cord encircling the axle and having upperand lower loops within which the housing is fixed so as to clamp thehousing to the axle in a generally perpendicular position.

3. The invention of claim 2, wherein said housing has external annularribs adapted to engage the axle.

4. The invention of claim 2, wherein said housing is disposedsubstantially perpendicular to the axle, a float in the housing, saidhousing having openings for the admission of water therein to act on thefloat and an audible signal assembly including a battery mounted in thehousing and an energizing circuit including contacts engaged by thefloat.

5. The invention of claim 4, wherein said housing has a separable upperand lower section, said lower section defining a compartment for thefloat and having an end wall provided with apertures for acting on theunderside of the float, a partition wall in said housing, said partitionwall carrying on its underside the contacts and the upper end of thefloat having a conductive disc adapted to bridge the contacts andestablish the energizing circuit.

6. A signal device for signaling the positioning of the wheels of a boattrailer in a body of water during launching of a boat on the trailer soas to prevent water from coming into contact with the bearings of thewheels, said device comprising a housing, means mounting the housing onthe trailer in a generally perpendicular position adjacent the wheels,said housing having a lower end section and an upper end section, afloat disposed in the lower end section, said lower end section havingan end wall provided with openings for the admission of water to act onthe underside of the float, contact means disposed in the housing andclosed by the upper end of the float when the housing has been submergeda predetermined distance within the water, a removable battery and bornassembly, an energizing circuit controlled by the contacts and energizedby connection to the battery, said battery and horn assemblies beingremovably mounted in the upper end section, said upper end sectionhaving an open upper end, a removable snap cap closing off said end andsaid end cap having openings for the emission of sound from the born tothe atmosphere.

7. The invention of claim 6, wherein said sections are formed fromplastic and are separable, said sections having adjoining threaded ends.

8. The invention of claim 6, wherein said housing is tubular and theupper end section is formed with annular ribs on its outer surface, saidribs being disposed in spaced relation along the longitudinal axis ofthe upper section and a closed elastic loop forming member embracing theaxle and having endless upper and lower loops encircling the upper endsection of the housing and clamping the end section to the axle with theribs engaging the axle and preventing movement of the housing duringtransportation of the trailer to the launching site.

9. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein said signalling assemblyincludes a horn, said housing including a tubular upper end receivingsaid horn, a removable cap retaining said horn in the upper end of thehousing with the cap having openings for the emission of sound from thehorn, said means mounting the signal means on the trailer including aflexible member encircling the housing and the axle for mounting thehousing adjustably on the axle.

1. In combination with a boat trailer adapted to be coupled to a towingvehicle and having an axle supporting ground-engaging wheels providedwith bearings, signal means for indicating to an operator of the towingvehicle when the trailer has been moved into a body of water forlaunching or recovering a boat carried by the trailer before the watercan come into contact with the wheel bearings, and means for mountingthe signal means on the trailer in stationary relation to the wheelbearings, said signal means including a housing, a float in saidhousing, a signalling assembly, battery means for energizing saidsignalling assembly disposed in said housing and contact means in saidhousing adapted to be engaged by the float to complete an energizingcircuit from the battery to the signalling assembly whereby thesignalling assembly is rendered operative, said means for mounting thesignal means retaining the housing so that the float is substantiallyvertically movable and is moved upwardly by action of the water enteringthrough openings in the housing.
 2. In combination with a boat traileradapted to be coupled to a towing vehicle and having an axle supportingground-engaging wheels provided with bearings, signal means forindicating to an operator of the towing vehicle when the trailer hasbeen moved into a body of water for launching or recovering a boatcarried by the trailer before the water can come into contact with thewheel bearings, and means for mounting the signal means on the trailerin stationary relation to the wheel bearings, said signal meansincluding a housing and said mounting means including an endless elasticcord encircling the axle and having upper and lower loops within whichthe housing is fixed so as to clamp the housing to the axle in agenerally perpendicular position.
 3. The invention of claim 2, whereinsaid housing has external annular ribs adapted to engage the axle. 4.The invention of claim 2, wherein said housing is disposed substantiallyperpendiculaR to the axle, a float in the housing, said housing havingopenings for the admission of water therein to act on the float and anaudible signal assembly including a battery mounted in the housing andan energizing circuit including contacts engaged by the float.
 5. Theinvention of claim 4, wherein said housing has a separable upper andlower section, said lower section defining a compartment for the floatand having an end wall provided with apertures for acting on theunderside of the float, a partition wall in said housing, said partitionwall carrying on its underside the contacts and the upper end of thefloat having a conductive disc adapted to bridge the contacts andestablish the energizing circuit.
 6. A signal device for signaling thepositioning of the wheels of a boat trailer in a body of water duringlaunching of a boat on the trailer so as to prevent water from cominginto contact with the bearings of the wheels, said device comprising ahousing, means mounting the housing on the trailer in a generallyperpendicular position adjacent the wheels, said housing having a lowerend section and an upper end section, a float disposed in the lower endsection, said lower end section having an end wall provided withopenings for the admission of water to act on the underside of thefloat, contact means disposed in the housing and closed by the upper endof the float when the housing has been submerged a predetermineddistance within the water, a removable battery and horn assembly, anenergizing circuit controlled by the contacts and energized byconnection to the battery, said battery and horn assemblies beingremovably mounted in the upper end section, said upper end sectionhaving an open upper end, a removable snap cap closing off said end andsaid end cap having openings for the emission of sound from the horn tothe atmosphere.
 7. The invention of claim 6, wherein said sections areformed from plastic and are separable, said sections having adjoiningthreaded ends.
 8. The invention of claim 6, wherein said housing istubular and the upper end section is formed with annular ribs on itsouter surface, said ribs being disposed in spaced relation along thelongitudinal axis of the upper section and a closed elastic loop formingmember embracing the axle and having endless upper and lower loopsencircling the upper end section of the housing and clamping the endsection to the axle with the ribs engaging the axle and preventingmovement of the housing during transportation of the trailer to thelaunching site.
 9. The structure as defined in claim 1 wherein saidsignalling assembly includes a horn, said housing including a tubularupper end receiving said horn, a removable cap retaining said horn inthe upper end of the housing with the cap having openings for theemission of sound from the horn, said means mounting the signal means onthe trailer including a flexible member encircling the housing and theaxle for mounting the housing adjustably on the axle.